Canon to showcase HD portable zoom lens with optical stabilization

March 12, 2010

Canon will show its first portable HD zoom lens with built-in optical image stabilization at the 2010 NAB Show in Las Vegas. The new HJ15ex8.5B KRSE-V is designed to maintain stable images even when the camera is subjected to vibration.

Weighing 4.4lbs, the lens uses Canon’s Vari-Angle Prism image stabilizer to achieve stabilized performance from wide-angle to telephoto shots. The stabilization technology employs an optical group made up of two flat glass elements and a sealed bellows containing a high-refractive-index liquid.

Jolts or other movements move the lens’ bellows proportionally to the amplitude of the motion. The associated distortion of the liquid instantaneously alters the direction of the transmitted light rays to counter the movement. The system has been optimized to introduce real-time compensation for image instabilities arising from all forms of lens and camera operational unsteadiness.

The technology, which has been dramatically improved, was originally introduced more than 10 years ago in an SD lens. Canon said the HJ15ex8.5B KRSE-V is ideally suited for diverse, challenging outdoor shooting situations because it can stabilize a wide range of vibration frequencies. These include low-frequency vibrations encountered on a camera operator’s shoulder in a crowd situation and tripod-mounted operation on shaky platforms. It also works well with higher-frequency vibration that cameras are subject to when operated on vehicles, motorbikes, boats or helicopters.

The lens was recently used in the Tour de France, when the camera operator shot handheld from a motorbike’s back seat and consistently delivered steady close-ups of the cyclists, even on very uneven roads.